…

Nam looked upon the ripe green and golden fields on the island. Even after all this time since moving here, the place hadn’t been given a name yet. The land was fertile, and there were a lot of animals to feast on in the forest. 

 

Adults were working on harvesting the crops while the youngsters were using their hands as training to dig at the ground. The youths had grown strong with the plentiful food and training. Everyone wore a heavy vest, so they were stronger than most people. 

 

It had been almost three years since Nam’s tribe moved here, but he could remember when Yamcha came to visit like it was yesterday. After all, who wouldn’t remember the day when a blessing of extremely good luck came to his doorstep? 

 

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Nam smiled. He had always dreamed of this life, his people not worrying about food or whether their children might die because of starvation or lack of water. This… Nam was thankful to Yamcha for all of this. 

 

He stood on the outskirts of the village, and he was leaving for the twenty-second world tournament. Usually, he acted as the guardian of this island when Yamcha wasn’t around, but there were already strong people in his tribe that could fight tanks one-on-one and easily win. 

 

'Time passes so fast. That pain and suffering feel almost like a distant dream.' Nam thought as he took out a capsule and threw it at the ground. The capsule exploded in a puff of smoke and revealed a small one-manned plane. 

 

"Brother!" Suddenly a teen called out. This was his younger brother, who had now grown almost as tall as him. "Are you going to the tournament?"

 

Nam smiled. His young brother was no longer the starving child but now the young teenager who was training to become someone great. During the last three years, his brother had sprouted tall like sugarcane, and many other youngsters had followed along. "Yes, Yamcha has already set off. He had something to do along the way, but he should be there by the time I arrive.”

 

“Alright, take care!” His brother waved happily. “Also, don’t forget to buy the new Flash and Superman Comics!”

 

“You little shit. That’s why you even came to greet me, right?” Nam waved at his brother and flew up. While in the sky, he got a better look at the island. The fields of golden wheat, the forests, Yamcha’s temple, and the village. This was his home now and always will be. 

 

With melancholy, Nam set off. For the first time in his life, he felt happy and without any worry in his mind. 

 

…

Within hours, Nam had reached the island where the World Martial Arts would be held to decide the strongest under the heavens once again. 

 

Tp Nam, there was no doubt Yamcha would win again. Though unexpected things might happen, Nam still holds his beliefs first. With what Yamcha had done for him, any other belief would feel like treason to his soul. 

 

Landing down, he put the small plane back in its capsule and couldn’t help but smile. Three years ago, he didn’t even dream of owning a plane. Well, it was technically Yamcha’s plane, but he had given it as a gift during Nam’s last birthday. 

 

He went toward the airport, and as he had expected, Yamcha was at the entrance of the island’s airfield it seemed like his friends hadn’t yet arrived, and he was reading a book in a strange language. 

 

As Nam got closer, Yamcha didn’t even look up and called out. “Nam, you’re early… as always. I tell you to take it easy, but you always go too far.”

 

Though the words weren’t the most friendly, and might be taken as criticism, the smile on Yamcha’s face painted a different picture. 

 

“Being punctual is the least I can do,” Nam says while leaning on the wall next to Yamcha, who finally met his eyes. 

 

Every time Nam met those eyes, they were sharp, like staring straight at a predator. Having a ripped body and being known as one of, if not the strongest, creature on earth definitely helped that image. Yamcha opened his mouth and was about to say something before a sudden blue blur the size of a ball about to slam into his face. 

 

“Yamcha!” The blue ball called out. Before it could hit his mug, Yamcha put his arm up and caught the creature. 

 

“Puar! You genius bastard! I haven’t seen you in three years!” Yamcha’s smile widened, and his eyes shone in delight. 

 

Hearing the name, Nam was surprised. Though he wasn’t the kind of man interested in things like comics, his brother was. At this point, everyone knew about the famous transforming cat author, Puar. His comics, like Flash and Superman, were already rumored to be turned into cartoons. Nam didn’t know how true those rumors were, just like those about a new main character called Wonder Woman. 

 

“Wo, why haven’t you written Batman yet?” Yamcha asked in a hushed voice as Puar transformed into a man with blue hair and cat ears. People had already started to look as soon as Yamcha called out his name. 

 

“I don’t think Batman would be suitable as a superhero. He is too normal! Also, what about him mastering all kinds of martial arts but can’t even break a wall with his fists?” Puar shook his head. 

 

“That’s Batman’s charm!” Yamcha refuted, and they got into hushed arguments, like old friends. This was weird since they first talked about comics instead of asking how the other had been.

 

Nam didn’t pay them attention any longer, as he wasn’t too interested in Comic Book talk since the kids in his tribe had already burst his eardrums enough talking about it. 

 

After Puar came a familiar face, Bulma, who Nam already knew as she often visited them on the island.

Bulma had long, flowing green hair, and a light look in her eyes. Many people walked with her, a rabbit humanoid, a blonde-haired woman, and a talking pig. From what Nam understood, Bulma had a crush on Yamcha. 

Nam stood by the sidelines as they reunited, and he introduced himself when asked. But most seemed to remember how he had done during his last time in the tournament. 

"So, Carrot," Yamcha turned toward the rabbit humanoid. "I heard you opened a company that sells carrots and were doing quite well."

 

Carrot twitched. If Nam hadn't known better, he would have thought that the humanoid rabbit was scared of Yamcha. But there wasn't any reason to be scared of Yamcha unless you were a dishonest man. 

 

"Y -Yeah. But that's old news. I had evolved my ability and could turn pebbles into carrots," Carrot hesitated in his excuses. "After understanding that I was causing problems with the local carrot farmers and decided to stop."

 

Yamcha stood there, his sharp eyes softened, and he nodded with a proud look on his face. "Good job. I'm happy you could make this decision without any outside interface."

 

"You won't believe what he has done with the earnings from the carrots and some suspicious amount of money that seemed to come from nowhere!" Bulma exemplified this while leaning on Yamcha. "He has opened a strip club in West City!"

 

"It's actually a casino!" Carrot intervened interview hurriedly. "We just use robotic labor to fill in our lacking numbers."

 

"Don't try and use fancy words," Bulma snorted disdainfully. "Your place is just a strip club with slot machines. Do you know what his place's outrageous slogan is?"

 

"No," Yamcha answered nonchalantly. He acted like he was listening, but after many years since he met Yamcha, Nam could tell by the look in his eyes that he was enjoying the drama. 

 

"The slogan is: It's not cheating if they're robots," Bulma muttered hatefully as if she hated the motto with all her soul. "Clearly, he is enticing the city's men to cheat."

 

"Yeah, that's bad," Yamcha agreed, and for a split second, Nam caught him glancing at Tights. What was that about? His attention was removed from such an issue as Tights took out a spyglass. 

 

Yamcha stared at the tech, and his eyes widened slightly. "How did you get that?"

 

As they walked toward the arena where the tournament was going to be held, Bulma took this chance to answer. "That's what my father developed after studying Carrot's magic power. It can read someone's magic power. Dad is trying to make the thing search for magic power signatures and not just read what's in front. It can rate magic power, with Carrot as the basis."

 

"So it's like a Magic Scouter?" Yamcha inquired.

 

"Yes, exactly like that," Bulma nodded and took the spyglass machine from her sister.

 

"Hey!" Tights protested, but her disagreements died in her throat before they could come out as she peeked at Yamcha. 

 

"So, what's Carrot rated as?" Yamcha looked at Bulma curiously as she turned the strange machine on him.

 

"Obviously as F, the lost Magic Powe-'' Bulma stopped as she stared at Yamcha. "Your Magic Power… it's the highest I have ever seen!"

 

"How high is my Magic Power?" Yamcha didn't look surprised by this, and neither was Nam. He had seen Yamcha fly on purple carpets and create barriers. 

"It's C+. That's like stupid strong!" She exclaimed in surprise. 

 

"That doesn't sound too strong, though?" Yamcha tilted his head in confusion. 

 

"Well, it's around 6x more than Carrots’ despite the guy being qualified as just F Rank. His Magic is actually extremely impressive, even better than Puar's." Bulma put it into perspective.

 

"Hey! Yamcha! Bulma! Carrot guy!" But their contemplations were cut short, as down his way was coming to a certain monkey boy, his master, a small monk, a pretty blue-haired woman, and a big turtle.

 

'Yamcha really has a weird group of friends.' Contemplated Nam, who was also one of Yamcha's friends.

******

A/N: The reactions of Yamcha cane pre-perpetual from Nam’s point of view. For example, Yamcha’s surprise at the Magic Scouter before Tights even explains what it was. It meant that had used Observe on it before Tights had explained.